sore

See that? Bottle baby. A combination of mouth sores and teething sent Reuben on a nursing strike in the hospital and it was horrible. I took the photo to show part of why our bottle and our breast attempts were so unsuccessful: that bottle is at the side of his mouth. Chewing, chewing, chewing. Which didn't work for me. And got very little milk out of the bottle (feeding in the sling with music and swaying was ultimately our most successful approach. Sometimes I even tilted the bottle so he could get at the milk because I almost get how to use those darned things.).

(see? am I supposed to use two periods there? My side-comment parenthetical remarks get long and while I know what to do with one partial sentence, what do I do when I run on and on? I need to consult Ms. Truss again. And also stop commenting on my punctuation because now you'll analyze every post because I'm sure you're as punctuation paranoid as me. At least I just wrote "you're" appropriately. Pet peeve and you would not believe how lousy Nathan's students are at this in their--not there or they're--papers. Or else you would because you are as anal as I am.)

We also tried a lot of solids, which we have done less of at home because when he's nauseous he cannot tolerate them. I think we'd best work on that skill anyway. We had limited success with rice cereal and applesauce, but he did enjoy food from my tray:
Lettuce.Plastic lids.
Fudge brownie!

(you may note from the drooly line on the right that I alternated brownie and frosting sneaks with bites of rice cereal/applesauce mix--he was tricked into opening his mouth because the fudge was awesome and was only a little disgruntled at the switches)

See the abandoned breast pump and bottles in the photo? The room was strewn.

Once during Monday night he forgot his strike and nursed and I didn't quite give up hope.


....



Now we're home. Nursing like a champ. It's just better here. I'm going to do more Reuben food work now, though. We need more in our calorie-obtaining arsenal.

Oh, and his mouth is, too. Hooray, new white cells! Healing champs, those guys. Keep yours around, my friends.

crepes

I can tell I'm pulling out "of it" a bit because I cooked (real cooking, not mixes or heating up what our new neighbor Marcie brought us for our freezer) two dinners and one breakfast this week.

New kitchen, I like you.
Even though you have dumb tile floors (tile is not my friend because any of my beloved pottery dropped on it has no chance).

Today's breakfast: crepes.

We LOVE crepes.

I favor good berry ones (my crepe is up top there) and feel like I'm extra clever for adding cinnamon because it is extra awesome.
The girls favor s u g a r. Audrey was cracking Nathan and I up when she was explaining to Marian, our food novice, that it's important not to put too much powdered sugar on a crepe. Because her hand is traditionally quite heavy in that regard (check out that baby!). She frequently informs us (every time I suggest a fruit addition) that she only uses white fillings (sugar, coconut, sometimes cream), but today made an exception for mini chocolate chips.
Marian favors cream. She still gets to eat pretty much whatever she wants, though quality of food is starting to get more important as her perfectly enriched formula tube feedings are becoming an ever smaller proportion of her diet.
Taking a clear picture of a baby without using the flash is always a feat. A baby going after whipped cream moves speedy-quick. I eventually gave up :).

We use Jeri's recipe only:

1 c. flour
1 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar
a shake of salt
2 T. oil
1 egg
1 generous splash of vanilla

Mix 'er up super well (I add the liquid a little at a time to the dry ingredients until it's pasty, to avoid lumps, then whisk the rest more quickly; Jeri puts hers in a blender).
Pour 1/3 cup batter in a hot skillet (I use 2 or 3 at a time, non-stick & cast iron, lightly greased for the first crepe), twirl it to thinly cover the bottom and bake (a low-ish medium is perfect on my stove) until just barely browning on the edges. Flip & let the crepe cook a bit on the other side, too.

When I see crepes at the store, they're practically colorless, but I love the crisp edges, so brown them a bit. I like to eat food hot, but also hate the family eating without the still-cooking mama, so I put my oven on 200' & keep throwing crepes in on an oven-safe plate until the whole batch is ready. Then we eat! (also blurry, but too pretty to delete)

beans

I've been trying to cook more with beans.
I haven't been wildly successful.
Tonight, I burned my pot of black beans. Because I forgot about them.
Marian (who is just learning to eat, at age 7, and not usually so cooperative) ate them anyway.

Until she couldn't stand the taste:
"Mom! It's so yuck, that burned taste. It's like a giant with dirty socks on!"

I am awesome.

Blueberries

I hauled the family out to Hollabaugh Brother's Fruit Farm in Biglersville, PA to pick blueberries. I thought the girls were excited and knew Nathan came just to humor me, but found that I was pretty much the only one who enjoyed it at all ("It's hot!" "It will hurt my fingers [sobs]!" "My whole childhood was devoted to trying to teach me to love this kind of work. Instead, I just learned to avoid it at all costs."), though everyone tried and Audrey was fairly determined (and Nathan & Mare put in their time: see them here.)
AND: enjoy it I did! I was exceedingly cheerful and could have kept going for hours. Except we already bought more than we will eat (luckily they freeze wondrously).
Most happily, I was able to buy a huge haul of beautiful local fruit: Queen Anne cherries, Sweet Cheeks apricots, Snow Queen white peaches, lovely plums (Santa Rosa?) with bright red-purple flesh, and plenty of Blue Ray blueberries. Here's the sampling I put up front to eat while I drove the 20 miles home. It lasted 5 minutes.

Marian did cheerfully (and unasked) help transfer berries from my pickin' basket.

glorious

a glorious thing
to eat a perfect pear
from a small bowl made by my hands
at a solid pine table made by my lover's

oh so healthy

I, like most of you, am trying to "eat healthy". For me, this means I carefully whip up tofu shakes, drive way out of my way to get organic stuff at Trader Joes, grind my own wheat, and then eat a load of hydrogenated, sugar-filled CRAP. Awesome.

My job requires a lot of driving, and lately some longer trips (I'm in Philly--a 3+ hr drive--every week this month). I cannot seem to stay awake on a drive any distance over 10 miles or so without eating constantly. In an effort to avoid the guckies, I decided to bring healthier foodstuffs this last trip. I ate enough of Trader Joe's rather awesome antioxidant trail mix to get a super-sore mouth (walnuts...), and then a whole pound of grape tomatoes. Except one rather withered one that I didn't quite trust. I think it was overkill. I wonder what I will choose for Friday's trip...
keen blue carpet on my back porch, eh?

"oh, what's Valerie's new job?" those of you who know me may be asking yourselves. I'm still mom-ing it (though the purplepetunia biz is invading a bit). which does mean a whole lot of driving these days; my youngest's doctors are at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and we're busy there! Just thinking I'm funny...